Intensive Support, Individual Supervision
A good study atmosphere, personal supervision, and individual support – the Mainz School of Music combines all these conditions necessary for successful study. The wide range of performance opportunities and the preparation given for different professional areas represent a clear educational advantage for our students.
Arts and Science
Professional musicians have been trained in Mainz for over 60 years. With the aim of bringing together art and science in one location, the state government of Rhineland-Palatinate opted to tread a new path within Germany's higher education landscape: Instead of establishing an independent school of music and art in Rhineland-Palatinate, artistic education was integrated into the university structure. Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz is the only university in Germany that combines the scientific and artistic fields under one roof. Even though both the School of Music and the Mainz Academy of Arts belong to the university, both institutions enjoy special status with far-reaching partial autonomy, guaranteed by the university's charter in recognition of the Rhineland-Palatinate Higher Education Act.
The unique combination of artistic practice, research, and teaching gives the Mainz School of Music a special profile. While, like all schools of music, the school offers artistic and music education programs of study, the school's integration into Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz produces an exciting dialog between art and science. Artistic, musicological, music education, and other academic course elements are combined and weighted differently in the different programs of study on offer.
Cooperation Agreements Promote Career-Focused Education
The many cooperative relationships with institutions outside of the university also sharpen the School of Music's profile. For example, the school collaborates with the Mainz State Theater, the Villa Musica State Foundation, and the Institute for Church Music. Particularly worthy of note is the school's collaboration with the municipal Peter Cornelius Conservatory within the scope of music education programs. One result of these collaborations is the especially practical, career-focused nature of the education at the Mainz School of Music.
Cultural Events Organizer for the Region
Everyday student life at the School of Music is shaped to a large degree by the many concerts, projects, and workshops held. During the lecture period, concerts featuring students and teachers and also famous visiting artists take place nearly every evening while master classes like the International Summer School "Singing Summer" bring young international artists to Mainz. The School of Music thereby enhances the cultural life of not just the JGU campus but also of the city of Mainz and the wider Rhine-Main region as well.
Profile Focus on Historically Informed Performance Practice
The profile focus on "Historically informed performance practice" was developed in recent years through, amongst other things, the university's support. Nowadays, solid knowledge and ability in this area are indispensable for singers and instrumentalists alike. To this end, the performance practice-oriented education offered does not concentrate solely on the realization of older music styles but instead aims to develop students' sensibilities for the esthetics of different musical periods as well as to develop interpretive approaches that suit the period in which musical works were created.
Profile focus on "Class Music Making" in School Music Education
For some years now, the Mainz School of Music has been leading the way among German music schools when it comes to the area of class music making. Experience and research go hand in hand. Students of School Music Education not only learn the basics in terms of playing string instruments and several wind instruments; they are also part of what is generally known as "Research in Mainz" ("Mainzer Forschungen"). The objective is an action-oriented music lesson, for which practice materials can be created based on the research carried out.
Core Programs of Study and Supplementary Courses offered as an Accompaniment to the Major Field of Study
The artistic and artistic-teaching programs of study offered are supplemented by a variety of additional courses offered as an accompaniment to the major field of study. These courses are open to students of all disciplines. These include the Symphony Orchestra and the Choir of the School of Music, the Big Band, the Symphony Wind Orchestra, the Jazz/Rock/Pop Choir, the Collegium Musicum, and the events organized as part of JGU’s General Studies program.
International Orientation
Music making is not conceivable without the nation-spanning cooperation that takes place between instrumentalists, singers, conductors, composers, educators, and musicologists. Student life at the school is also shaped by living together with students from other countries and making music together with them. Different cultural and musical experiences broaden the students' own cultural horizons and open their eyes to the sheer breadth of the musical spectrum and the wealth of interpretive possibilities. For this reason, fellow students from foreign countries who decide to study at the Mainz School of Music are seen by the school's students and staff as an enrichment of life on campus. Conversely, we also encourage German students to expand their international experience by spending time abroad.